FORT CARSON, Colo. -- Dax, a German shepherd assigned to the 69th Military Police Detachment, 759th MP Battalion, walked into a tent just outside the veterinary treatment center on post April 29, met some nice people in uniforms, took a nap and woke up feeling minty fresh.
He most likely had no idea he was taking part in an exercise at the time, but the military working dog's assistance helped the 438th Medical Detachment (Veterinary Service) gain valuable experience.
The tent Dax entered was the 438th Med.'s field hospital, which had been set up for the first time only two days earlier. Unbeknownst to him, he was one of the first patients to undergo a procedure at the field hospital -- a teeth cleaning that required anesthesia and even an endotracheal tube.
"We like to keep all of our fingers," said Lt. Col. Clayton Chilcoat, 438th Med. commander. "So, we do teeth cleanings while the patient is under anesthesia."
It was all part of the 438th Med.'s three-day exercise, conducted April 27-29, 2015, where veterinarian medical teams practiced a variety of real-world procedures and scenarios that will help as they move forward.
The 438th Med. is a subunit of the 10th Combat Support Hospital and currently is on what's known as a DCRF -- Defense chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) response force -- mission.
"It basically means we are on call and must be prepared to deploy within 24 hours for any sort of emergency response within the continental U.S., for anything from hurricanes to terrorist attacks," Chilcoat said. "CBRN is our primary mission, but we would also respond to natural disasters (such as) fires or floods."
While a few teams gained experience on real patients, other teams in the field hospital trained in trauma care with simulated patients.
"This exercise is our first opportunity to use our own equipment on live patients," said Capt. Emily Purswell, 438th Med. veterinarian and team leader. "The training has gone well. We've treated dogs from Fort Carson and Peterson Air Force Base."
While Purswell and Maj. Olivia Price, 438th Med. clinical specialist, conducted training for veterinarian teams on one side of the post, another 438th Med. team tested on-post food at a field laboratory set up miles away. That's because the unit also performs a food-defense mission.
Some may be shocked to learn that veterinarian units here are also responsible for food inspection, but Purswell explained that these tasks are historically linked.
"From stable to table or farm to fork, the veterinarian's job is to keep food safe, from either animals or processes," she said. "Veterinarians originally came into the Army as meat inspectors. Now, we've moved away from meat inspection and moved toward food safety and defense."
During the exercise, 438th Med. Soldiers scoured the post from the commissary to shopettes to dining facilities, collecting food samples. They then brought them back to the unit's laboratory for three solid days of testing.
"The food procurement team members within our unit are the subject matter experts when it comes to food quality," Purswell said.
The lab team tested dozens of samples for contaminants down to the microscopic level and are so technically advanced that they it can test DNA and RNA.
"This lab provides us an ability to provide on-site surveillance, especially in a deployed environment and allows us to be a force multiplier," said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Calvin Knight, 438th Med. food safety officer. "It ensures wholesomeness of samples we collect and helps commanders make timely decisions to reduce harm to Service members."
While the field lab and field hospital were set up on opposite sides of the post, their mission during the exercise was nearly identical.
"We are trying to assess our capabilities," Purswell said. "If we deploy somewhere, all of our veterinarians will conduct their mission away from unit leaders. We need to make sure everyone is prepared to be independent operators."
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